SUNDAY, all day

Divine Mercy Sunday

EWTN, Familyland TV On this day when Jesus promised total remission of sin and of punishment to all who go to confession and receive Communion, EWTN’s highlights include Ocean of Mercy at 5:30 a.m., Mass and Celebration of Divine Mercy, live at 1 p.m. (re-air, 9 p.m.), The Merciful Love of Jesus at 6:30 p.m. and Sister Faustina: The Promise of Mercy at 11:30 p.m. Familyland TV highlights include Trust in My Mercy at 4:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., Divine Mercy, Our Lady and John Paul II at 5:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. and A Time for Mercy at 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, 8 p.m.

Nature: Voyage of the Lonely Turtle

PBS This new documentary follows a loggerhead turtle on her perilous, year-long, 9,000-mile swim across the Pacific from Mexico to Hawaii to Japan, her birthplace, where she will lay her eggs. Advisory: TV-PG.

SUNDAYS, 2 p.m.

The Monastery

THE LEARNING CHANNEL Continuing today and the next two Sundays, this new series accompanies five women as they spend 40 days in the contemplative life with the Trappistines at Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey near Dubuque, Iowa. Mother Gail Fitzpatrick says, “Living totally in God is really worth the sacrifice and generates so much joy and hope in our lives.”

SUNDAY-FRIDAY, 9 p.m.

America at a Crossroads

PBS Eleven documentaries, all shown during two hours each night this week, examine post-9/11 issues such as the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, domestic security, al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and our troops’ morale. Robert MacNeil hosts.

TUESDAY, 8 p.m.

NOVA: First Flower

PBS “I see his blood upon the rose … I see his face in every flower,” wrote Irish poet-rebel Joseph Mary Plunkett about Jesus. This show consults paleobotanists, who study fossil flowers to search for the origins of today’s perhaps 400,000 flower varieties.

WEDNESDAY, 8 p.m.

Tomb of Christ

PBS The work of Oxford archaeologist Martin Biddle and his team in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem suggests that the church is the site of the tomb of Jesus. A Secrets of the Dead re-air.

SATURDAY, 3:30 p.m.

Rosary for Life

EWTN Pray the Rosary for the intention of saving unborn babies from abortion.

SATURDAY, 10 p.m.

The States

HISTORY CHANNEL Learn about major historical episodes in California, Kansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina and West Virginia.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.